The Big Squeezy juice bar is continuing its expansion in Baton Rouge with plans for two new locations—one in the Bocage Village Shopping Center on Jefferson Highway and the other in the White Star Market, which is currently under construction on Government Street.
The Bocage Village store will be located in the former TCBY space, which was vacated in June when the yogurt shop closed after more than 20 years in business. The Big Squeezy owner Ash Shoukry says he got the keys to the space Monday, and needs to make only cosmetic changes to get it ready for what he hopes will be a late November or early December opening.
The Big Squeezy’s move into Bocage Village comes as Dearman’s, its next-door neighbor in the shopping center, is nearing completion of its more than 15-month-long renovation. The popular diner has been shuttered since it was damaged by a late-night fire in March 2016. It has been under construction since summer 2016.
Shopping center manager Mitch Richardson says he expects Dearman’s to reopen “soon” and only minor work needs to be completed. David Van Gelder, the diner’s owner, confirms he is close to completion, but is hesitant to predict when he’ll be back in business after so many delays and false starts.
“October is a possibility,” he says.
Meanwhile, The Big Squeezy will begin planning for what will be its seventh location in Baton Rouge—White Star Market, which Shoukry anticipates will open in early 2018.
The Big Squeezy also has locations near the Perkins Road Overpass, at LSU, at Alexander’s Highland Market and two downtown. Five of the stores are within the same two-mile radius.
While Shoukry says it may seem as though the market is oversaturated, the reality of the Baton Rouge area is that gridlock makes it difficult for people in relatively close proximity to get around.
“Because of the infrastructure and traffic it’s really difficult for people to get from A to B,” he says. “So you trade saturation for giving the product to the customer.”
Shoukry, a California native, says Baton Rouge is a market unlike any other he’s done business in. The demographics and feel of neighborhoods just a couple of miles from one another can be vastly different, he says, which means each of his stores, though in close geographical proximity, are unique.
“In Pasadena, 80 percent of the city is the same,” he says. “Here, you go two miles down the road and it’s completely different.”
Shoukry not sure what to expect in Bocage but he knew it was a high demand area he needed to be in.
“We couldn’t pass on Bocage,” he says.
—Stephanie Riegel
